2021 Rookie QB Chronicles- Mac Jones
What is interesting about Mac Jones is how he appeared to come out of nowhere after the 2020 NFL season ended. During the 2020 season, when everyone was focused on the Trevor Lawrence sweepstakes, the assumed consolation prize was Justin Fields. There were some who questioned if Trevor Lawrence was better than Justin Fields. However, there was no doubt almost all the analysts and most of the football world had Trevor Lawrence chosen as the top prospect in the upcoming 2021 NFL draft. Zach Wilson was beginning to grab some attention and create some doubt if Justin was even going to go after Trevor did.
Then suddenly, two young men took over all the draft talk and debate in the late winter and early spring of 2021. Many will point to the trade San Francisco made with Miami as the catalyst of this new hot topic. Who was San Francisco trading up to take? Some nonsense and disproven claims about Justin Field’s work ethic had already begun pushing him down the draft board. The two young men who had suddenly jumped up the board were Trey Lance and Mac Jones. We already looked at Trey Lance. Now we turn for a closer look at Mac Jones, and how things unfolded in the draft.
The football world had concluded that the Jets were going to take Zach Wilson. The big question was who was going to go third? The early bet was on Mac Jones. This was surprising to a lot of people because Mac Jones was not projected to be a high first round pick. The reasoning of many seemed to float around the idea he was surrounded by elite talent inflating his statistics and production. Some pointed out his lack of physical stature and went as far as saying he had a “dad bod.” But something changed: Suddenly Mac Joes was jumping to the third spot on many draft boards. A number of analysts were raving that San Francisco head coach Kyle Shanahan loved Jones.
I have wondered if this perception was caused by the QB rankings released by Chris Simms. Simms ranked Jones right behind Trevor Lawrence and Zach Wilson. I am not certain, but the timing of his rankings seemed to align with the jump in Mac Jones’s draft projection. This is something I turn to the readers to weigh in on. Maybe I am way off base, wondering that. Aside from the false reports about his work ethic, Justin Fields’s stock may have dropped a bit after being ranked low by the same rankings released by Chris Simms. That ranking had Fields listed as the fifth best QB in the 2021 draft. He even fell behind Kellen Mond, who was rarely seen on anyone’s first round draft board. One contradiction to all this is Trey Lance was ranked even lower by Simms, and ended up being the third pick overall.
The impact of Chris Simms’s ranking also shrunk a bit when Chicago traded up and selected Justin Fields over Mac Jones in their obvious move to grab a potential franchise quarterback. So we all know who sat patiently and waited for Mac Jones to fall right into their laps at pick 15 overall. New England proved what we all knew, Cam Newton was a temporary stop gap between Tom Brady and their next shot at a franchise quarterback. So Mac Jones did not go as low, or as high as analysts had predicted, depending on when you asked them. He went in the middle. But how is he doing now that Spring OTAs and involuntary mini-camps have come and passed? And what are the New England fans feeling and saying?
To begin, the New England fan base appears to have a lot more patience than the fans in Chicago and San Francisco; At least from the discussions I was able to find. When I consider the play of Andy Dalton the past few years, the urgency to see Justin on the field is more understandable. I was a bit more surprised about the San Francisco fan base being in such a hurry to get Trey onto the field. But New England fans are expressing hope Cam Newton can perform well enough for Mac Jones to sit and grow before taking over the helm for the Patriots. Maybe that comes from so many recent championships, and the knowledge that it is best to plan and do what is best for long-term success.
But would it be a surprise if that sentiment changes if Cam Newton struggles and the Patriots get off to a mediocre start to the 2021 season? Does any fan base calmly sit and watch their quarterback struggle and lose when their future incumbent is standing right there on the sideline? That will be interesting to see unfold. But if New England wins with Cam, there apparently will not be much of an outcry for Jones to play. I think this will be a great scenario for Mac Jones. New England’s offensive system is not an easy one to pick up quickly. Even the experienced Cam Newton spoke of the time it takes to fully grasp.
As far as how Jones has performed in camp this spring, the feedback has been mixed. When Cam Newton injured his wrist, both Jarrett Stidham and Mac Jones shared first team reps. Many assessed that Jarrett fared better and Mac struggled. But Mac was not awful, and he was in the first weeks of learning a new system, And most importantly, it is expected that a rookie will struggle in their first practice sessions. On a more positive note, the word is he got better as the spring went on. The feeling in New England has been very positive, and there’s a lot of optimism.
I found some of that optimism to be a bit over the top. Not that I am claiming my optimism for Zachary Wilson is not at times over the top. Well, New England fans are not very different when it comes to their guys. One fan claimed Jones was unbelievably accurate, and backed it up with footage of the young quarterback throwing twelve yard passes to uncovered receivers. Seriously, it was nothing I wouldn’t expect any quarterback, at any level, to be able to do. It was more of a drill than anything else. There were some reports of an amazing pass made in between two defenders, but I could not find actual tape of that play. I was also unable to find any tape that raised serious concerns.
Not raising concerns with his play is normal for Mac Jones. If you look at his tape from college, there isn’t a lot that raises concerns for me. At the same time, there isn’t a tremendous amount of evidence he will be an elite quarterback. A lot of his successful plays were short little passes to the elite receivers he was surrounded by each week. 2021 first round selections DeVonta Smith and Jaylen Waddle, accompanied by the 24th overall pick running back Najee Harris, and other elite talent, helped boost Jones production. They would turn quick five yard outs into 30 yard gains. But Jones also threw beautiful passes deep down field into tight coverage at times.
These are some of the back and forths I struggle with when I try to predict Jones’ future. The evidence I found to believe he can become an elite franchise exists, But it is not a tremendous amount of evidence. It reminds me of Baker Mayfield. There were a lot of concerns that Baker’s tape was filled with shorter passes to elite players in a system hard to fail in. And maybe that is true. But it is not evidence a quarterback will fail. The one thing we know about Jones is that he passed that test. He was able to come into a great situation and thrive. He will be coming into a decent situation in New England. Especially if he is not rushed onto the field. So only time will tell how he faces the next test. As a Jets fan it will be impossible to root for him. But on a human level, he appears to be a great young man that I wish all the best in life.
The Sactown NFL Report (Jeremy Krevat)